During our freshman year, we explored our possible research interests and came to form Team TARGET during our spring semester. After that, we began a preliminary literature review and started developing possible methodologies for our research. In July of 2020, we were paired with our mentor Dr. Jin and began to familiarize ourselves with Gastrointestinal physiology and epithelial biology.

During our sophomore year, we plan on finishing our literature review during the first semester in the hopes of collecting data our second semester. As we navigate the coronavirus pandemic and restrictions to undergraduate research however, our plans may change.

​

During our junior year, we plan on completing most of our data collection with the primary-cultured pig self-renewing intestinal monolayer and exploring the possibilities of using other models to study the role of ClC-2 on barrier function such as a CRISPR Cas-9 ClC-2 knockout porcine line. We will then present our findings at the junior colloquia to UMD faculty and students.

During our senior year, we will finish up our data collection as necessary and then finalize our thesis. This thesis will then be presented at the Gemstone Team Thesis Conference.